Frequently Asked Questions
How do I request visits/prayers when someone is ill?
Hospitals no longer notify clergy of their congregants' admission as patients, due to privacy laws, so we are completely dependent upon you to call us and let us know the names of loved ones who are ill or having surgery.
We want to remember them in our prayers and our clergy would like to call or visit them. We regularly visit all of the local hospitals as well as visit the infirmed in their homes. Bikkur Cholim - visiting the sick - is a mitzvah (a commandment and righteous act) in our tradition, and we take these visits very seriously.
Each Shabbat morning and each time we take out the Torah during weekday services, we offer a MiSheberach ("may the One who blessed") prayer for those who are sick. The prayers ask God to watch over them and grant them health of body, spirit and mind, together with all others who are ill. We also maintain a list of people for whom we pray regularly.
When we offer prayers for the sick, we usually mention the individual's Hebrew name together with his/her mother's name. For example, if one's Hebrew name is Yitzhak and his mother's Hebrew name is Sarah, we would offer the prayer on behalf of Yitzhak ben ("son of") Sarah. If you do not know the Hebrew name, we can also mention the English name in our prayers.
To add a name(s) to the list, please submit in Hebrew or English by contacting Assistant Cantor Leonard Gutman .
27375 Bell Road / Southfield, MI 48034 / Tel: 248/357-5544 / csz.info@shaareyzedek.org
The funding for this website has been made possible by a generous endowment
honoring the memory of Dorothy and Max Shaye.